Pasco Sheriff Said His Office Ranked Among Lowest Staffing Ratios In Florida

PASCO COUNTY, FL — Sheriff Chris Nocco said a lack of deputies in the Pasco County Sheriff's Office is threatening the safety of residents by forcing him to prioritize calls.

Nocco presented a 2020 report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to the Pasco County Commission showing that Pasco County ranks 64 out of 67 counties for the ratio of deputies to residents.

He said Pasco has 1.06 deputies for every 1,000 residents. That's less manpower than all surrounding counties, Nocco said.

"We're almost near the very bottom," he said.

As a result, Nocco said the sheriff's office has been forced to keep some people waiting for deputies to respond while deputies address more dire life-threatening and public safety calls.

"I'm not anti-growth. I want to put that out there," Nocco told commissioners. "But I want to make sure we understand as we talk about some of the things going on with growth how it's going to affect us."

He likened the sheriff's office to a restaurant that's experiencing has a growing number of customers while the management hasn't added staff.

"They want to get the service and, if they don't, they're going to be very angry, and they're going to start pointing fingers," Nocco said. "I want to address that before they start getting angry."

He said the sheriff's office is well below the service levels the residents have come to expect.

As a comparison, Nocco said Pinellas County has 1.86 deputies per 1,000 residents, making it 33rd out of the 67 Florida counties. To match Pinellas County's level of service, Nocco said Pasco would need an additional 399 deputies.

Hernando County has 1.32 deputies per 1,000 people, giving it a ranking of 55th out of the 67 counties. Pasco would need 130 deputies to match Hernando's level of service.

Polk County has 1.26 deputies per 1,000. It is currently ranked 58th out of 67 counties. However, the Polk County Commission has agreed to Sheriff Grady Judd's proposal to add 25 new deputies a year. Pasco would need 100 more deputies to match Polk County's current level of service.

Hillsborough County is also understaffed with 1.23 deputies per 1,000 people, ranking 60 out of 67 counties. Nevertheless, Nocco said Pasco would need 85 additional officers to match Hillsborough's service.

Using statistics supplied by Florida Tax Watch, Nocco said Pasco County ranks 55th out of 67 Florida counties in funding for public safety.

"That includes emergency management, fire rescue, EMS and law enforcement, everybody in general," said Nocco.

The current budget for the sheriff's office, including court security, is $110,979,330. He said, while that budget remained stagnant, between Jan. 1 and March 25, Pasco County approved 3,745 building permits for new homes.

"Even if you figure a minimum of two people per household, you're looking at a need for 14 more law enforcement officers (to provide service for those new residents)," he said.

The problem is, it takes a year to hire, train and put a deputy on the streets.

"So we're always going to be two or three years behind," Nocco said. "We're just trying to maintain the level of service that we're at, but we just seem to keep falling behind."

To complicate matters, fewer people are choosing careers in law enforcement following the May 2020 demonstrations and accompanying criticism of law enforcement. So, sheriff's offices and police departments are forced to pay higher salaries to compete for staff.

"In 2014-15, we lost over 100 officers to the Tampa Police Department. They nicknamed it the Tampa 100 Club," said Nocco. "We hired them, trained them and gave them experience, and then Tampa picked them up" because Tampa's starting salary for police officers is $160,000 a year, compared to the Pasco sheriff's office, which pays $46,948 per year.

Commission Chairwoman Kathryn Starkey said one of Pasco County's attractions is its low tax rate. To increase the number of deputies and raise salaries would require a countywide tax increase, something she doubts residents would be eager to see.

County Attorney Jeffrey Steinsnyder said, years ago, the commission discussed charging a law enforcement impact fee for new development. But impact fees come with restrictions. They can only be used for capital expenses, not personnel, he said.

Commissioner Mike Moore suggested looking at implementing a Municipal Serving Taxing Unit, a funding mechanism to create a special taxing district in new communities to fund additional deputies.

Starkey suggested that Nocco and the commission discuss the matter in more detail at a budget workshop in May.

"We hear you," she told Nocco. "We understand."